Post by Scumhunter on Dec 29, 2014 9:47:53 GMT -5
(Above: Top: Yasmin, circa 2008. Bottom: Age-progression photo to age 23, circa 2015. Photo Credits: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's missingkids.org website)
Missing Child/Person Profile as of December 29th, 2014 (Based on missingkids.com poster):
Missing Since: Jan 15, 2008
Missing From: Chicago, IL
DOB: Oct 25, 1992
Age (as of 12/29/2014): 22
Sex: Female
Race: Black
Hair Color: Sandy
Eye Color: Brown
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 125 lbs
TIPS: Anyone having information should call 1-800-THE-LOST or the Chicago Police Department (Illinois) at 1-312-744-8266
The case of then 16-year old Yasmin Acree, who disappeared from Chicago, was aired on AMW on December 13th, 2008. Below is a brief description from their archived website on the case:
Young Girl Disappears, Gate Lock Found Cut
Friends describe 15-year-old Yasmin Acree as an enthusiastic young woman who is fun to be around.
Yasmin attended Austin Polytechnic High School in Chicago, where teachers said she was a well-adjusted student who made decent grades.
On Jan. 15, 2008, cops say Yasmin went to school as usual, and then to a YMCA group meeting that she attended three days each week.
After the meeting, Yasmin's YMCA mentor dropped her off at home, around 8 p.m., according to Chicago Police Detective Michael Roth.
Cops Investigating All Possibilities
Cops say Yasmin had been living with her aunt, Rose Starnes, and her aunt's boyfriend, Charles Burt, on the west side of Chicago for about four years.
Her mother passed away, and police say Yasmin spent several years in foster care in Kentucky before Rose adopted her.
On the evening of Jan. 15, 2008, Charles said he saw Yasmin come home and do a load of laundry before retreating to her room in the basement of the house.
She has not been seen or heard from since.
Yasmin never showed up at school the following morning, and when she didn't come home as usual around 5 p.m. that night, cops say Rose and Charles called police.
Police found that a lock on a gate behind the home had been cut.
Chicago Police say they have not ruled out any possibilities, and are investigating the case from all angles.
A few more notes from the Charley Project website:
-Yasmin's family has criticized the police investigation in her case, claiming authorities assumed she was a runaway and failed to look into other possible causes of her disappearance. Authorities admitted they made serious errors at the onset of the investigation by not immediately dusting for fingerprints and not taking the broken lock from the basement door.
-Yasmin had a troubled past. Her deceased mother was a drug addict. Yasmine and her brother DeMarcus were removed from the home when they were toddlers. Before coming to her Chicago home, she had spent several years in a Kentucky foster care system where she was sexually abused and developed severe emotional and behavioral problems. Although the AMW profile describes decent grades, the Charley Project says she went from an excellent student in middle school to poor grades in high school.
-Jimmie Terrell Smith and his father lived in the second floor apartment in Yasmin's building at the time of her disappearance. His father was friends with Starnes. Smith moved into the building in 2005, after he was paroled from prison where he had been serving a sentence for attempted murder. Following his release, he was arrested six times and admitted he sold drugs near Yasmin's apartment. He reportedly took an interest in Yasmin, and she mentioned him twice in her diary. Starnes didn't tell the police that Smith was living in her building until 2009, when he was arrested for raping five females, including two 14-year-old girls he allegedly kidnapped. In a press interview from jail, Smith said he knew what happened to Yasmin and he was responsible for four murders he hadn't been charged with. This information hasn't been confirmed.
Thoughts? The initial mistakes were unfortunate and who knows what could have been found off those fingerprints but at least those mistakes were owned up to and admitted by the Chicago Police Department.
It does concern me that Jimmie Smith, a proven female predator, lived in the same building as Yasmin. But what also concerns me is he sold drugs near her apartment. Someone who wants to steal drugs from Jimmie could potentially target Yasmin's apartment by mistake if it's in the same building.
Yasmin had a rough life up to her disappearance and didn't deserve all the things that happened to her. I hope by some miracle she's alive because she didn't really get to have a childhood. As an adult, she could get married, start a family, and live a rewarding life. Admittedly, it doesn't look good. But in all missing child cases, the one thing to go on is always hope.
web.archive.org/web/20111109175757/http://www.amw.com/missing_children/brief.cfm?id=61762
www.missingkids.com/poster/NCMC/1088268/1
www.charleyproject.org/cases/a/acree_yasmine.html
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